Story+2005-04-30+Phoenix,+AZ

´´Thank you, thank you and good evening....wrote this song about, uh, matter of fact played it on the Tom Joad-tour, it found a nice home for itself on, on this new record but, uh.... wrote it, I guess it was four or five years after I, you know, had the kids....and, uh, (?) the kids come along (?) that first baby comes along, it´s like ´Oh, Jesus has been born,´ you know (chuckles) ´Step back, this is what we´ve been waiting for, Jesus is here´ (chuckles) and you go outside and, you know, everything looks different and you´re all high and, and, you know, you can´t figure out why everybody´s still shopping and driving around.....the world should stop, Jesus is with us now (chuckles) then about, uh, 14 years later Jesus thinks you´re an idiot, that´s the only problem (chuckles) you´re a, uh, you´re a tolerable idiot though, tolerable but still you´re an idiot, you know (chuckles) and uh....this is kind of a song about second chances, you know (?) everybody thinks that when they have their kids, they´re gonna do it all right, they´re not gonna make any of the mistakes their folks made and, uh, in a way it is a way we honor our parents, you know, we try to, we pick the best of what they did and we try to leave the rest....it doesn´t always work because, uh, you know, not only do I catch my kids acting like me, I catch ´em acting like my dad (chuckles) that´s when you know, you know, you fucked it, you didn´t do it right, you missed it, one got through, slipped through there....so, uh.....anyway, this is a song about second chances, about trying to get all those things, trying to get those things as, as right as you can, I guess, this is called ´Long Time Comin´´´....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´Long Time Comin´´´**

´´Thanks, this is a song, uh....my wife and I, we had a very close friend and she died at a very young age and left two young boys behind....that´s sort of every parent´s nightmare.... and, uh.....I wanted to write something for her sons....she was a very long and elegant woman and.....I came up with this, this particular story where a young boy loses his mother and he enviews her spirit in this horse that comes out of the mountains at night, this is called ´Silver Palomino´....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´Silver Palomino´´**

´´Thank you, I didn´t, uh, when I started out....I didn´t write a lot of love songs....I guess I just didn´t feel a lot of love (chuckles) but uh, and also when I did write ´em, I used to hide ´em, I hid ´em inside other songs, you know, inside songs you couldn´t quite tell what they were about, you know, so (chuckles) uh, ´cause the thing about the love song, if you wanna write a love song, you gotta say you love her (chuckles) so this was one of my early ones and, uh, it´s, uh, probably one of the best ones I wrote but, uh.....(tries a few chords) if I can remember it....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´For You´´**

´´Thank you.....thank you.....the other thing that might´ve, that might´ve thrown me off the love songs was I, I always remember when I was a kid, I´d.....sit in the kitchen and my mother would always have the radio and she, you know, in those days, it was the 50´s and the radio was filled with, with gorgeous love songs from one side to the next, all the doowop singers and the doowop music was always about, it was ecstasy and the ecstasies of love and, and, and your heart getting crushed but I´m coming back and, and come back to me and, and it was, and, and, and the purity of the voices was something that really, it just hasn´t been matched, you know, it´s, uh, (?) one of those Channel 13 shows where they get all the old acts together and everybody sings and there was one, one on doowop and these guys were so, it was amazing ´cause they came out and they were 60 years old or 70 years old and when they opened their mouths, they were 20 years old, it was just, it was just incredible, it was, uh....it was beautiful music so my mother´d be interested in it (?) ´Ooh, that´s lovely, love that song´ and my dad, I always remember I was sitting at the kitchen table and my dad´d say ´Bruce....love songs are a government plot....their sole purpose is to get you married so you pay your taxes´ (chuckles) so....that was one of the, one of those quotes that, you know, of Dad´s that lives forever and, and it, it only took me about 40 years to get through it, you know, and uh (chuckles) and, uh, (?) so this is a song about wedding days, I say ´days,´ plural, unfortunately but, uh (chuckles) but, uh....you know, it´s a funny day, it´s a day when, you know, everything, everything counts ten times as more, men, don´t do anything wrong on that day (chuckles) or you´re dead....(plays a bit of piano, then stops) I think I´ll play harmonica on this one, I need a C, I need a C....don´t worry, folks, we are prepared, we are prepared for all contingencies (chuckles)....thank you (chuckles)....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´Book of Dreams´´**

´´Evolution.... President says jury is still out on that one (someone yells ´Fuck the President!´) that´s right, evolution is in doubt in the White House....they´re just not sure about it, they´re sure about contribution....retribution....execution.....but evolution is very iffy....in the White House, if six days ain´t enough for you and a day off for football on Sunday....fuck you Elvis and the dinosaur you rode in on.... (....) Now, Bubbles, where are you when we need you?....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´Part Man Part Monkey´´**

´´Alright, now, this is, this is a song about the sweet ecstasies of love, the power of passion ....I´m gonna deliver those things to you right now (chuckles)...not to hype myself, I don´t wanna hype the whole thing (chuckles) this is actually done with the band on the record so, uh, I´ll have to see what I can do, alright (chuckles)....(starts playing)....we need more record sales out there right now (chuckles)....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´Maria´s Bed´´**

´´Well, this is where I usually say that if there´s any, uh, young children in the crowd, it might be a good time to go out and check that fine merchandise that´s out there tonight (chuckles) some nice things for the kiddies....this is a song, a love song, but, uh....it sort of about not being able to handle the real thing and so you opt for something else....and that doesn´t work out so good either (chuckles)....this is called ´Reno´....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´Reno´´**

´´I´ve been, they had, uh, recently they released on, on dvd this terrific movie called ´Two-Lane Blacktop´ and, uh, it was directed by a fellow named Monty Helman (the crowd is quiet at the mention of the name) I can tell you´ve seen all his work (chuckles) and, uh, but, uh, uh, he was a terrific director in the mid-70´s, made a series of, of great pictures, ´Two-Lane Blacktop´ was one of them, it starred James Taylor and Dennis Wilson and Warren Oates, uh.....and, uh, (?) it´s a movie about a cross-country race and so I wrote this, I didn´t write this song, I didn´t see the movie till a little after I wrote this song but there are a lot of, sort of a lot of similarities in it but if you get a chance and you´re up for a little adventure, check out ´Two-Lane Blacktop´ or there´s a movie called ´Cockfighter,´ uh, also starring Warren Oates, that´s, uh....they´re, they´re just not quite like anything you´ve seen so, anyway, here we go....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´Racing in the Street´´**

´´Yeah....well, I was, uh....not completely transfixed but similarly transfixed by, you know, picking (?) the new Pope (?) when, uh, when I was a kid in Catholic school, my God, that was a, that was a big deal, a big deal and, uh, now it´s kind of like....you´re watching something go on for a team you don´t, you know, quite completely play for any more (chuckles) but uh (chuckles) but, you know, you´re still interested, it´s like, you know, ´Where are the stand-ins?´ (chuckles) so uh (chuckles) so uh (chuckles) anyway....this is a song that, uh....I used to joke, you know, when you get out of Catholic school, you say ´Man, I´ve had it, I´m done with that´ and uh.... you know and then 20 years later you look and inside all of your music you see all of the imagery, you´re sort of....kind of stuck, but this is a song that I wrote, I guess I was interested in Jesus as, uh, as somebody´s son, as Mary´s son, I was interested in the kind of decisions He made as human, human decisions and, uh..... and once you have kids of your own....I´ll sing it, see if you get it.... (....) shall pierce your dreams this night....I always figured that there has to be a moment for your....sacrifices to mean something....where you think of the other things, what you´re giving up....and uh, I always figured there had to be a moment He´s going ´Well....that Galilee is pretty nice this time of year....there´s a little bar down there, I could manage the place and Mary Magdalene could tend bar....it felt really good down there, we could have some kids....and, uh, save the preaching for the weekend....and, uh´....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´Jesus Was an Only Son´´**

´´Well, we all carry with us, uh, both the....seeds of, uh, good things and creativity and of course the seeds of our own destruction and, uh, sometimes it´s a dead heat, it´s a dead heat (chuckles) you know, woh!....this is a song about a guy just sort of, uh....just coming down on the good side of things and so I guess it´s a prayer, it´s a prayer, that´s what this song is, this is called ´Leah´....actually I wrote this song on, uh....thought I was stealing the title of a Roy Orbison song, which I was....but then somebody came up with a whole sort of thing on the biblical Leah - she was a pretty wild gal herself (chuckles) but, uh, it cuts two ways (chuckles)....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´Leah´´**

´´This is a, uh....song, I guess it´s sort of about the other side of that coin, how, uh....we hold the seeds of our destruction and uh....I like to write songs about people whose souls are at risk....uh, I suppose I was taught that mine was for a long time (chuckles) they were right (chuckles) they had that right (chuckles) so now I write these songs and it momentarily puts my own soul at ease....a sort of self-medication kind of thing (chuckles) but uh, this is a song about a young fellow, he leaves....gets into some trouble and he has to leave home, ends up going to New Orleans, becomes a fighter and, and becomes quite a champion but sells himself short.....it´s easy to do....the whole song is a conversation that he has with his mother when he comes back through town towards the end of his life and, uh, he has this conversation through a locked door....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´The Hitter´´**

´´Thank you, on the, uh, on the Tom Joad-tour I used to end the set with ´Across the Border´ and I wrote this song shortly, shortly after that, it´s kind of a sequel and uh....in this song a man makes the same journey and he´s kind of fuelled by the same hopes and his love for his partner, his family and trying to come to the States and send, send money back home....but there´s so many folks that die just trying to get into the United States each year in the deserts and in the mountains and, and in the rivers that we´re badly in need of a humane immigration policy....so, uh, I wrote this song sort of backwards, it starts with....with a man looking down on his....body that´s in the bottom of the river, then takes you to the journey across the desert up to the banks of the Matamoros which is a town across from Brownsville, Texas....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´Matamoros Banks´´**

´´Thank you....thank you....thank you....you´ve been a fabulous, fabulous audience, thank you so much....thank you....I have a treat, I´m gonna bring out my good friend, Nils Lofgren, here ....an Arizona resident, I believe....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´This Hard Land´´**

´´Thank you....alright....we´re also here, we got here with us tonight some friends of ours from the Bridge....the Bridge is a program in the Southwest (?) faith-based program, they have a mission here to help homeless families achieve, uh, self-sufficiency, they´re worth your, uh, support and they´re out there in the hall, if you see them, please tip your hat to them, give me a hand, they´re called Friends from the Bridge....this is, uh, I´m gonna kill you on this one now, it´s a test, oh, a big test, big test, it´s uh (chuckles) we´ll see how we do....´´
 * 30.04.05 Glendale, AZ, intro to ´´Waitin´ on a Sunny Day´´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//